Are you new to grading student writing? Wondering how to respond effectively, efficiently, and fairly? This half-day workshop is intended for new or returning Teaching Assistants and Graduate Instructors who will be responding to and grading student writing for the first time in Fall 2016. Over the course of the afternoon, we’ll discuss general approaches to responding to, commenting on, and grading student writing.

You’ll have the opportunity to practice with writing samples from actual students in various disciplines and to work with writing specialists to develop specific grading and commenting strategies for your course. You’ll also learn about the resources available through the Center for Writing, and you’ll have the chance to talk with a panel of seasoned TAs about their experiences working with student writing. Register

Center for Educational Innovation: Teaching Enrichment Series Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 2016

The 2016 Center for Educational Innovation (CEI) Teaching Enrichment series will be offered on Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 2016. The series is designed to help you enhance your teaching in a variety of ways. Workshops on a number of topics, ranging from supporting non-native English speakers in the classroom to using universal design principles for course design, will be offered. Registration is open now

GRAD 8101 from Preparing Future Faculty Are you interested in learning more about the principles and practices of teaching in preparation for a faculty career? GRAD 8101, “Teaching in Higher Education,” is designed to help graduate students and post-doctoral fellows become responsive and reflective teachers. More than a hundred graduate students (both TAs and non TAs) take GRAD 8101 each year, and their comments on the course and the PFF program are overwhelmingly positive.

Three sections of GRAD 8101 will be offered during fall 2016, and there are still seats available. If you’re interested please register soon as these sections are likely to fill quickly. More information

GRAD 8200 “Teaching for Learning: An Online Course” This course covers the theory and methods of instruction in higher education. It treats some of the same material as GRAD 8101 (course design, assessment, the teaching philosophy, and more), without the hands-on teaching practice and in-depth treatment of topics. And because the course is 1 credit (as opposed to three for GRAD 8101), the workload is lower. More information

You do NOT need to be a TA to take these courses. For questions contact pff@umn.edu.

The Spoken English Test for Teaching Assistants (SETTA) can be taken once every 12 months by University of Minnesota students to fulfill the Language Proficiency Requirements for Teaching Assistants. The test takes under 40 minutes (20 minutes to prepare, plus 15 minutes to present). You must register to take the test, and must cancel your registration more than 48 hours in advance if you cannot attend your scheduled SETTA. If you do not cancel, you will need to wait 12 months after your forfeited SETTA date. More information | test dates | register

2016-2017 #UMNCareerChat Schedule

The University of Minnesota Alumni Association and Career & Internship Services (CCE, CDES, CFANS) will partner again this year to host Twitter chats on a variety of career development topics using the #UMNCareerChat hashtag. Topics this year will include the importance of mentoring for career development, effective interviewing strategies, and how to navigate a career fair.

Participating in the Twitter chats is a great way to meet and network with new people and an excellent way to practice your virtual networking skills. Chats are open to all alumni, students, and postdocs. Follow or join in on the conversation via the #UMNCareerChat hashtag (search for the hashtag and include it in your tweets). The chats will be archived via Storify and shared by the Alumni Association for those who can't participate live.

The Versatile PhD is a web-based resource to help graduate students and PhDs envision, prepare for, and excel in non-academic careers. Through VPhD, you can learn about academic employment realities and non-academic career options, and get support in preparing for a wide range of careers.

In addition to the free content available to all, U of MN graduate students, postdocs and recent alumni have access to premium content and a Power Search feature to identify non-academic contacts.

The premium content, located under “Real Life Examples” on every career page in the PhD Career Finder, presents detailed inside information about each career represented, offered by PhDs and ABDs actually in those careers. The Power Search feature offers a way to identify possible non-academic contacts. Students can search for multiple criteria simultaneously, thus paring down a community of over 60,000 to just a few individuals who can reasonably be contacted for informational interviews. More information